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[MissSplitch]

I saw a skin in progress that appeared to be using a 2-state image system for menu objects; I was wondering if this was possible, or if I was just reading too much into the example pic/explanation text? While the ease of use of setting up the MXM menu and its dynamic size is great, I would also like to have the option of a dvd-style menu that cycled through an array of controls, changing the image for whatever the pointer reticle was supposed to be highlighting at the time.

Perhaps I am just bluesky-ing here; but I've been tooling around with moving over to MXM for a while now, and since I'm getting tired of my current evoX skin, I figured now was the perfect time to start up a skin and get moving. Roll-over style target-assigned images seemed like a normal thing to me, but may be a bit off for the average person, I guess, so forgive me if I'm way out of whack here.

Any help is appreciated.

[BenJeremy]

I guess I'm not catching your drift here.... I've tried to add a lot of flexibility into how images/video can be displayed (using conditionals, for example) based on the type of item displayed.

Can you be a bit more explicit?

[geniusalz]

QUOTE (MissSplitch @ Nov 15 2003, 04:58 AM)

I would also like to have the option of a dvd-style menu that cycled through an array of controls, changing the image for whatever the pointer reticle was supposed to be highlighting at the time.

Are you talking preview videos/pictures here?   MXM does that, and more  

MXM demonstration
Check out the video

[MissSplitch]

QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Nov 16 2003, 09:55 PM)

I guess I'm not catching your drift here.... I've tried to add a lot of flexibility into how images/video can be displayed (using conditionals, for example) based on the type of item displayed. Can you be a bit more explicit?

Sure thing, here's the pic that got me thinking about it:
http://www.xbox.com/...cmixer-0027.jpg

I see that this is an official product, but a guy was saying he wanted to make a skin like this over in another thread, to which I wondered if it was possible to create a menu system without using the built-in mxm menu functionality, but rather through a system like the above system would use, wherein the buttons for functions aren't text whose highlight color changes, but images whose state changes (in this case, they turn green when chosen) with some sort of tagging for what they do.

Text Example:

idxMenuNumber, ItemName, [imgDefault, imgChosen], {x,y,h,w}, btnFunction

Where idxMenuNUmber is basically the "tab order" that the menus are cycled through, ItemName is just an easy tag the menu item coud be called to glance at for what the thing does, (or even a string that could be passed to a textarea to display in the skin, for maximum extensibility) imgDefault and imgChosen being 2 images that comprise the states of the menu item, (not selected, and selected), coordinates for display & formatting, then what the button should do when it's chosen.

Formatted example:

1, SC2_JAP, [btnSC2_up.png, btnSC2_down.png], {430,200,100,17}, F:\Games\SC2_J\default.xbe

And simply pressing up/down on the dpad in the menu would cycle the pointer for what was actually being chosen, which the user would see as the engine changing the images from their down state to their up state as it cycled through.

It seems like a lot of work for doing something that a simple text menu already does, but I think moving a pointer through an array-index not only isn't that hard of an idea (which is why I figured MXM would do it, since it does so much more already anyway) but also allows for the maximum amount of user customizability, which I figured was what MXM was all about.

I'd do it myself if it wasn't already possible, but the XDK has not been my friend, and refuses to drop by if you follow me.

So long story short, is what I'm thinking of already implemented, or am I just way the fyoink out there?

EDIT: forgot about the whole doubleslash thing.

[BenJeremy]

OK, I catch your drift.

What you are asking for is a bit tricky. I'd implement it with Text Elements and conditionals, but it only gets messier from there...

You'd HAVE to use text elements, as there is no way to tell what the menu items will be (unless it was a custom, limited choice menu, which you could simulate what you want now) - remember, skins are supposed to be generic and there are hundreds of games and apps one might have on their system.

The next problem is navigating submenus, and handling situations where there are more items than visible "positions" displayed.

Perhaps with integration with ActionScripting, it might be possible. I'll give that some thought.


As for the here and now, if you have, say, a limited 3 item menu, and wanted to use images, you could simulate it with a 1 row menu and use the next/prev conditionals to simulate the choice currently available and "trick" the system into displaying the items you wanted to. Furthermore, the 1 row menu can be placed offscreen, so as to avoid it's part in the display.

[geniusalz]

[BenJeremy]

Hmmm.... interesting idea on the implementation.

I'll think on it.

[geniusalz]

Oh yeah, and something about multiple thumbnails too.
Maybe a new resource.

But that is lower priority (IMO) than the other stuff.

[MissSplitch]

As for the whole skins are generic thing, I agree that they should be just something anybody can toss into their box and use, but I also think it would be interesting to have a more extensible system that could, in fact, do things of a limited scope a bit better than it did the wider-range things.

I'll screw around a bit and see what I can come up with.